Anyone here a fan of the Conan the Barbarian universe?

Samtemdo8_v1legacy

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Because right I wanna get into another Fantasy franchise at the moment after I dug deep into Warhammer and right now I am eyeing on Conan the Barbarian.


So if anyone here ever got into this franchise my questions, and I am asking people who actually read books and comic books and other expanded media and not just the Arnold Schwartznegger movie:

1. Do you recommened Books written by the author Robert E. Howard himself or the Comic Book adaptions of it?

2. Are the stories not written by Robert but other authors aswell just as good as Robert's?

3. Any insight you can give me on the lore of the Conan universe?

I have seen the movie but what really got me wanting to know more about Conan was the Age of Conan MMORPG and its intro:


That intro made me want to know more about the Conan universe than the movie ever did.
 

BrawlMan

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I'm not a big expert on the Conan universe, but I do own a book that has most of Robert E Howard's stories. I don't know the quality of the other authors though. Robert does a really good job with characterization in suspense, but do keep in mind his stories are not race friendly.


The book I have is called the coming of Conan the cimmerian. It not only has a majority of the important Conan stories, but it comes with in-Universe text and map of the world he lives in. I highly recommended it if you are into Conan.

I am more of a casual Conan fan. Other than the books, I have seen the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, and played the Conan game on Xbox 360. The game itself is decent, but keep in mind it is a God of War clone.
 

Thaluikhain

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REH's stuff gets a bit samey. Conan is forever running into the last vestiges of ancient empires that used to run the world millennia ago...always different empires with no connection to each other. The "universe" of Conan is ratehr inconsistent...possibly in part because Conan stories often started out as being about someone unrelated that Howard made up, but editors suggested he make it about Conan because Conan was popular. And he often wins just because he's a big strong barbarian like all men should be, which isn't really a great story.

Oh, and serious issues with race and women in a lot of stories.

As an aside, Howard was pen friends with Lovecraft, and it shows in some of the stories. I think they tend to be the better ones, but that's me.

Also, Frank frazetta artwork, a big part of Conan.
 

Queen Michael

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My only experience with Conan the Barber is the collected edition of all Howard's original Conan stories that I've owned since I was 18. Never watched the movie or read the comics, but I recommend those stories very highly. I almost never read fantasy, but a good book is a good book.
 

Mechamorph

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Howard's Conan books are written in a slightly archaic style with vocabulary to match and the cultural values of the 1930s. Its themes echo the ones common to pulp fiction of the time; lost civilizations, racial characteristics, sinister magic, things from the past being better than those found in the present, etc. There is also a mild anti-civilization vibe there as well, as if congregating in cities make men weak and corrupt as opposed to the free barbarians in Cimmeria. If that's your cup of tea, then it should be a fun ride with a lot of raucous adventure.

As for other authors it can be a mixed bag, unlike Lovecraft there was no "heir apparent" like Derleth who had as strong a claim at defining the mythos.

If you want more gritty fantasy try the Grey Mouser series. If you want dark fantasy try the Elric of Melnibone books.
 
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I've seen the films, spent some time in the MMO and read Wikis. One of my favourite fantasy authors, Robert Jordan, famously wrote many Conan novels, oftentimes to the exclusion of the Wheel of Time series his fans were waiting for! It's an interesting enough fantasy world, certainly more adult in nature and gritty/gory in tone than some of its contemporaries. I think it evokes aspects of many fantasy worlds. It has the swords and sorcery of High Fantasy like Tolkein or Eddings, the war/military like Feist, the blood and gore of ASoIaF and a little absurdity...in a good way!

The world is well detailed with many nations, each with a history, religion and culture. Considering how it's still fairly popular, I'd say you could easily lose yourself in this world and don't doubt you'd enjoy your time spent there.
 

Samtemdo8_v1legacy

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KingsGambit said:
I've seen the films, spent some time in the MMO and read Wikis. One of my favourite fantasy authors, Robert Jordan, famously wrote many Conan novels, oftentimes to the exclusion of the Wheel of Time series his fans were waiting for! It's an interesting enough fantasy world, certainly more adult in nature and gritty/gory in tone than some of its contemporaries. I think it evokes aspects of many fantasy worlds. It has the swords and sorcery of High Fantasy like Tolkein or Eddings, the war/military like Feist, the blood and gore of ASoIaF and a little absurdity...in a good way!

The world is well detailed with many nations, each with a history, religion and culture. Considering how it's still fairly popular, I'd say you could easily lose yourself in this world and don't doubt you'd enjoy your time spent there.
Its the backdrop that caught my attention, this "Hyborian Age" a Mythical Age of Earth set between after the Fall of Atlantis (which is real in this world) and before the rise of Recorded Ancient History (I.E. Ancient Egypt as we know it, Greece, Rome, etc.)

Like the nation of Stygia for example is essentially Egypt, or the nation before it becomes Egypt.

It suggest that Human Civilization already existed long before early concrete recordings happened. Than again this opens up to probably many historical and archeological inaccuracies.
 

TWRule

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A little late to the party here, but as someone who has never watched the movies or read the comics but read several of the books and short stories (and also played the Age of Conan MMO), I heartily recommend the series for anyone interested in low fantasy settings with adult themes. I say 'low' fantasy because while there is some magic and the occasional appearance of other-worldly beings, these things are treated as exceptional, miraculous happenings that none of the characters really understand - they are presented as mysterious, alien occurrences at the fringes of the human world that only a few people are ever privy to.

Howard is great at descriptive imagery, painting pictures to capture the imagination. When I think of his works, I vividly recall particular imaginary locations sooner than I recall the names of the stories in which they showed up. You can also listen to some of his works in the form of audio dramas on youtube, which have background sound added to potentially enhance the experience.

Any of the short stories are good, but some of my personal favorites (there are probably more I'm forgetting) are:

-Beyond the Black River
-Red Nails
-Tower of the Elephant
-The Pool of the Black One

And if you just want a book-length taste of all things Conan: Hour of the Dragon pretty well captures everything the series is about.

Mechamorph said:
There is also a mild anti-civilization vibe there as well, as if congregating in cities make men weak and corrupt as opposed to the free barbarians in Cimmeria.
I wouldn't describe the presence of that theme as "mild". While not every story has Conan encountering civilization, every time he does, there is some kind of commentary on the weakness of civilized men, or demonstration of Conan's superiority over them. Howard seems to be playing on themes from Nietzsche's thought, where modern society is critiqued for its tendency to produce only mediocrity and dull men's desires to make more of themselves, whereas Conan represents the individual who is his own master, not mastered by the herd-like mentality of society, who purposely lives a dangerous life of adventure as opposed to huddling together for comfort and protection like the 'civilized' masses do. Of course, since Conan ends up becoming a king of one of the world's largest civilized nations, that tension gets played out from multiple angles.